Twenty-second Amendment To The United States Constitution

The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution sets a limit on the number of times a person can be elected to the office of President of the United States. Ratified on February 27, 1951, this amendment was a reaction to the four-term presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who served from 1933 to 1945 and remains the only U.S. president to have served more than two terms.

Background

Prior to the Twenty-second Amendment, there was no formal limit on the number of terms a president could serve. The precedent for a two-term limit was set by George Washington, who refused a third term in 1796, believing that no one should dominate the office for too long. This tradition was followed by subsequent presidents until Franklin D. Roosevelt broke it by winning a third term in 1940 and a fourth term in 1944, during a time of unprecedented national and global crises including the Great Depression and World War II.

Content

The amendment's key provision is found in Section 1, which states, "No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once." This effectively limits an individual to two elected terms as president, or one elected term if they have already served more than two years of another president's term.

Ratification

The push for the amendment began in earnest after Roosevelt's election to a fourth term. It passed Congress in 1947 and was ratified by the requisite number of states in 1951. The ratification process highlighted a debate about executive power and the need for fresh leadership versus the value of experienced leadership in times of crisis.

Impact

The Twenty-second Amendment has had a significant impact on the strategy of presidential elections and the overall dynamics of presidential power. It has ensured a regular turnover in the nation's executive leadership, preventing any single person from holding the office for a potentially unlimited amount of time.

Controversies and Criticisms

Critics of the amendment argue that it infringes on the democratic right of the people to choose their leader without restriction. Others believe it is a necessary check on the accumulation of power. There have been occasional calls for its repeal, allowing presidents to serve more than two terms if elected, but such proposals have not gained significant traction.

See Also

• Presidency of the United States
• Franklin D. Roosevelt
• George Washington
• Constitutional Amendments of the United States